Word Definition

Inoculate

  1. To insert a foreign bud into; as, to inoculate a tree.
  2. Fig.: To introduce into the mind; -- used especially of harmful ideas or principles; to imbue; as, to inoculate one with treason or infidelity.
  3. To communicate a disease to ( a person ) by inserting infectious matter in the skin or flesh; as, to inoculate a person with the virus of smallpox,rabies, etc. See Vaccinate.
  4. To bud; to insert, or graft, as the bud of a tree or plant in another tree or plant.
  5. To graft by inserting buds.
  6. To communicate disease by inoculation.